Iran is trolling Donald Trump by demanding that shipping companies pay tolls in cryptocurrency for oil tankers to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump, a prominent backer of crypto who has his own $TRUMP meme coin, has touted the ceasefire with Iran as a U.S. victory.
But Iran is already making new demands that were not in place before the war began—including the crypto tolls.
The demanded fees, first reported by the Financial Times, come as Iran seeks to retain control of the vital waterway during the two-week ceasefire deal announced just hours before Trump’s deadline on Tuesday.
The spokesperson for Iran’s Oil, Gas and Petrochemical Products Exporters’ Union, Hamid Hosseini, told the FT that Iran wants to collect tolls from any tanker passing through its waters.
“Iran needs to monitor what goes in and out of the Strait to ensure these two weeks aren’t used for transferring weapons,” Hosseini said. “Everything can pass through, but the procedure will take time for each vessel, and Iran is not in a rush.”
According to Hosseini, tankers will have to email Iranian authorities about their cargo, and once informed of the required toll, they must pay it in digital currencies that can’t be seized or blocked by sanctions. The tariff is $1 per barrel of oil.
Asked about Iran charging a toll for ships through the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday by ABC News’ Jonathan Karl, Trump downplayed it and suggested Iran and the U.S. would team up.
“We’re thinking of doing it as a joint venture. It’s a way of securing it—also securing it from lots of other people,” Trump said. “It’s a beautiful thing.”
However, Iran halted shipments through the Strait on Wednesday, according to Iranian media reports. Trump wrote in his post about the ceasefire on Tuesday that Iran’s agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was part of the deal.
Despite the Trump administration taking a victory lap on hitting pause hours before the president threatened to wipe out civilization on Tuesday, there are reports that the ceasefire is already crumbling.
The prime minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, on Wednesday said the reported violations “undermine the spirit of peace process.”
